BSC Student of Environmental Health Engineering, Student Research Committee, School of Health, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

Abstract: (1291 Views)

Background & Objectives: Aviculture is an enormous and profitable industry,
which attracts enormous investment after petroleum. Aviculture has a key role in
providing animal protein. They are also important in terms of environmental health,
due to producing wastes such as excrements, poultry carcasses and odour emission.
Therefore, the aim of this study was to survey aviculture industries in Babol, 2013.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on all the poultries
in Babol. For this purpose, 67 avicultures were randomly chosen. The data
were collected using checklists, completed through interviews and observation.
Results: The results demonstrated that 73% of the aviculture workers have medical
check-up records. All the workers used uniforms and protection tools. All the
poultry farms had first aid kit. Only one of them used carcass burning furnace to
exterminate cadavers. Additionally, 9% of wastewater systems were not suitable.
The roofs, walls and floors were ideally flat, washable and disinfectable. Moreover,
25% of the poultry farms did not have verification for microbial quality of
drinking-water. The shortest distance to the first residential area was lower than
200 meters.
Conclusion: This study showed that although avicultures are in good hygiene conditions,
their distance to residential areas was less than standard. Therefore, this
issue must be considered in future residential developments and aviculture siteselections.